Monday, August 19, 2013

"There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man."



'When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself ... for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself" - Course in Miracles - 


"There is nothing to fear. " - Course in Miracles - 


"The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity." -  George Bernard Shaw 

"That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every page of the history of the whole world" -  John Adams

"There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man." -   Alan Paton

"From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable." -  Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses 

"Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me and bless me. I will recognize in everyone my dearest friend" - Course in Miracles - 

"Forgiveness is the key to happiness" - Course in Miracles - 










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Fake it Till You Make it, How to Become a Journalist




Column: Chris Hedges on Egypt Violence
"Murdering the Wretched of the Earth" -- The murderous assault by Egyptian security forces against supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi is not only an ideological battle, but a war waged against hundreds of millions of Muslim poor who find in radical Islam their only source of hope, meaning and dignity.

Truthdigger of the Week
"Truthdigger of the Week: Laura Poitras" -- Documentary filmmaker and government surveillance reporter Laura Poitras is a model for a new generation of investigative journalists bent on protecting their sources while uncovering government wrongdoing.







anyone that still thinks we live in a democracy needs to be shaken vigorously until he comes to his senses.........kosmicdebris















An honest Israeli Jew tells the Real Truth about Israel

Following Israeli's example, me, as a native american, have a right to take back my original homeland......what no can do here?  We have only been displaced for 200 years or so not 2000, why would any object here?  The jews got their land back why not the first nation's....wtf?  seems fair to me, let's start with Lindsy Grahams land first.



 

 

Capitalism will save the planet

 

 







President Obama: Don't frack our public lands

Sign the Petition!

The Obama Administration is proposing new rules for oil and gas fracking on federal lands, including those in the national forest system, federal lands that are near many treasured national parks, and Indian lands.

One of the things that makes America great is our vast and cherished spaces. Millions of acres across our beautiful country are public, but now this land—and many of our favorite iconic landscapes—are under threat from fracking.

That's why I started a petition to President Barack Obama and Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, which says:
I am calling for a ban on fracking on all federal lands.
This land is our land and should be managed for the good of the people, not corporate profits for the oil and gas industry.
The Bureau of Land Management's proposed rules for regulating hydraulic fracturing on Federal and Indian lands are not only weak, but they do not take into account all of the harmful processes required to frack for oil and gas.
The best way to protect our air, water, wildlife, climate and public health is simply to prohibit this inherently dangerous form of fossil fuel extraction on public lands.
The Obama administration is accepting comments on the new fracking rules until August 23. On August 22, we'll join allies to deliver hundreds of thousands of comments, including yours, to President Obama and Secretary Jewell. Please add your name today!
Thanks!
–Sarah Alexander



Syria: Politics Not Theology
By Robin Yassin-Kassab
"I'm a Muslim, but my first religion is humanity. I don't care about the religion of the president. But I'll fight to the death to not be ruled by a murderer."
Egypt On The Brink Of A New Dark Age, As The Generals Close In For The Kill
By Patrick Cockburn
Just how far General Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi and the Egyptian army and security forces deliberately planned a massacre in order to rule out any future compromise is not clear.
A Model of American Opacity
How Obama's drone war echoes Egypt's military crackdown.
BY ROSA BROOKS
To Egypt's military government, American officials condemning the killings are nothing but hypocrites. After all, is there any significant difference between what Egypt is doing in its own streets and what the United States is doing in the streets of other states?
Stating The Obvious - Facing The Facts
Politicians Lie
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
Politicians lie. That includes Japanese, American, Egyptian, Israeli, and Palestinian politicians! Is there something more common sense than that?
In Search of Palestine - Edward Said's Return Home
Video
Made back in 1998. The film was, as far as I know, never showed on U.S. television.
Detaining My Partner: A Failed Attempt At Intimidation
By Glenn Greenwald
The detention of my partner, David Miranda, by UK authorities will have the opposite effect of the one intended.
4 Cases of the U.S. Sheltering Vicious Criminals that Reveal Total Hypocrisy on Snowden
By Alex Kane
From a CIA agent to a Cuban terrorist, the U.S. shelters people who are accused of heinous crimes.
Gore Vidal's - American Presidency
Video Documentary
Gore Vidal at his acerbic best, offering his views of past American presidents, from George Washington through Bill Clinton.
A Little Good News-Ann Murray
Video
Nobody was assassinated in the whole Third World today
And in the streets of Ireland all the children had to do was play
And everybody loves everybody in the good old USA
We sure could use a little good news today.
 
24 "Taliban militants" killed in Afghanistan:
Two dozen Taliban militants have been killed and 18 wounded in "clean-up" operations in Afghanistan, the interior ministry said Sunday.
17 killed at Afghan construction camp by insurgents:
"The Taliban attacked their camp along the Herat-Badghis road while they were asleep last," Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, provincial police spokesman, told AFP. The workers were employed by a government-owned road construction company, he said.
7 soldiers, 4 police officers killed in attacks in Afghanistan:
A statement from Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense on Sunday said that two soldiers were killed in the southern Kandahar province, three soldiers in Logar province, and two in Paktiya province, Khaama Press reported.
2 security personnel killed in check-post attack in SW Pakistan:
At least two security personnel were killed Sunday evening when some unknown gunmen opened fire at a security check-post in Pakistan's southwestern provincial capital of Quetta, local media reported.
36 Muslim Brotherhood prisoners killed in Egypt:
At least 36 people Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been killed in Egypt while attempting to escape from a prison convoy.
Major Cairo march called off over safety fear:
Protesters allege snipers had been placed along routes of anti-military marches planned for capital.
Defiant protesters march in Egypt capital:
Anti-coup demonstrators break curfew but heavy security blocks progress to Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo.
Egyptian Media Silences Protests:
Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi accuse the local media - both state-run and private - of ignoring pro-Morsi demonstrations and covering up massive rights abuses.
Catholic spokesman defends Egyptian army crackdown against protesters:
"This is a problem not just for Christians but also for moderate Muslims. We are facing a group of terrorists who seek to set the whole country ablaze, and we have to cooperate together against this," he said.
Egypt army chief vows to use full force:
The Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said he will no longer restrain his forces from confronting "attackers who want to destroy Egypt", in his first public comments since a security crackdown on anti-coup protesters that left an estimated 600 people dead.
U.S., allies were near a deal for peaceful end to Egypt crisis:
Two weeks before the bloody crackdown in Cairo, the Obama administration, working with European and Persian Gulf allies, believed it was close to a deal to have Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi disband street encampments in return for a pledge of nonviolence from Egypt's interim authorities.
Tamarod movement calls on Egyptian government to cancel Camp David peace treaty:
Tamarod, who played a major role in the ousting of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, demand the Egyptian regime to hold a referendum on banning US aid, cancel the peace agreement with Israel, and reword security-related treaties to allow Egypt to revive its national sovereignty.
U.S. military needs Egypt for access to critical area:
The U.S. military is heavily dependent on Egypt to move personnel and equipment to Afghanistan and around volatile parts of the Middle East, complicating U.S. efforts to place pressure on the Egyptian military in the wake of its violent crackdown on protesters.
EU calls emergency summit over Egypt crisis as European leaders consider sanctions:
David Cameron was engaged in frantic discussions with European leaders last night to find a joint response to the crisis in Egypt as governments worldwide put ties with the military-backed government under review.
Illegal weapons shipment heading to Egypt "seized":
The Egyptian Coast Guard is reported to have arrested a cargo vessel yesterday loaded with weapons from Libya. It is said to have set sail from Misrata two days ago.
Israel's message on Egypt: Keep Cairo from falling, then worry about democracy:
Functioning state priority before resuming democratic process; says army is only actor that can assert authority, if it is dismissed, Egypt would go "the way of Syria, Tunisia, and Libya".
Israel denies "close ties" with Egypt's military leaders:
The denial followed a report published Friday in the New York Times which quoted an unidentified Israeli official as saying that Jerusalem was leveraging its influence to convince Washington not to cut its military and economic aid to Egypt.
Syrian rebels kill 11, mainly Christians, in checkpoint attack:
Most of those killed were Christians, activists and residents said. Some were from the National Defence Army, a militia which fights alongside President Bashar al-Assad's soldiers, and others were civilians, they said.
Aleppo: A city where snipers shoot children:
Everybody reacts differently to the sound of the sniper's bullet. When shots ring out, the sea of people in the marketplace parts as most people press themselves against the walls of the buildings - as if, somehow, that will save them.
Israel attacks Syrian army post following mortar shells falling on Golan:
The IDF fired a Tamuz surface-to-surface missile at a Syrian army post on Saturday, after several Syrian mortar shells exploded in the Golan Heights. The Tamuz - a guided missile - accurately struck its target.
Assad hails Syrian 'unity,' says Israel benefits from Arab unrest:
President says he welcomes all constructive diplomatic efforts to end two-and-a-half-year-long civil war
Iraq backs Egypt crackdown on Morsi supporters:
"We stand strongly with the Egyptian government in its steps to impose the rule of law and install security and peace across all of Egypt," the Iraqi prime minister said in a statement on his website.
Eight killed in Iraq violence:
Attacks in Iraq killed at least eight people including an anti-Al-Qaeda militia leader on Sunday, officials said, the latest in a surge of violence plaguing the country.
Why an Iraqi Single Mom Is Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes :
Saleh is the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit targeting six key members of the Bush Administration: George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, and Paul Wolfowitz. In Saleh v. Bush, she alleges that the Iraq War was not conducted in self-defense, did not have the appropriate authorization by the United Nations, and therefore constituted a "crime of aggression" under international law
Call to kill Western envoys:
AN American al-Qaida militant has called for more attacks on Western diplomats in the Arab world, praising the killers of the US ambassador to Libya on September 11 last year, a US-based monitoring group said yesterday.
Interior minister of lawless Libya submits resignation:
Al-Sharif al-Wafi, a member of the Libyan General National Congress, told Reuters that Sheikh submitted his resignation to the cabinet and to parliament in protest against what he said was interference in his work by the government and parliament.
Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours:
The partner of the Guardian journalist who has written a series of stories revealing mass surveillance programmes by the US National Security Agency was held for almost nine hours on Sunday by UK authorities as he passed through London's Heathrow airport on his way home to Rio de Janeiro.
Feds Threaten To Arrest Lavabit Founder For Shutting Down His Service:
The saga of Lavabit founder Ladar Levison is getting even more ridiculous, as he explains that the government has threatened him with criminal charges for his decision to shut down the business, rather than agree to some mysterious court order.
Assassination TIME: Sr. journalist 'can't wait' to justify drone strike that will kill Assange:
WikiLeaks tweeted that they have sent a letter to the publication demanding Grunwald's resignation. They have said that the magazine must show that journalists calling for the murder of other journalists is "never acceptable."
Britain is fast turning into a Banana Republic, wilfully blind to corruption:
You may remember that, back in November 2010, it emerged that a "cocky" Prince Andrew appeared to welcome and endorse bribery and corruption - or at least that he abhors those who would seek to get in its way
40% Of Americans Now Make Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage:
The minimum wage would be $16.50 an hour - $33,000 a year - if it had kept up with the growth of productivity since 1968. To put the effect of this a different way, 40% of Americans now make less than the 1968 minimum wage, had the minimum wage kept pace with productivity gains.








Policy News

Security News

Bug-finder chucked for posting to Zuck
Facebook vuln demoed by pic-post to Mark's account

Software News

Science News

Former NASA man talks education, astronomy, and lots and lots of photons
  • Video Phobos overlaps Deimos in video treat
  • Get into the miniature drugs trade for $250
  • NASA hoses down new theory of 'porous, layered heliosphere'

    Things Are Bad And Getting Worse
    Paul Craig Roberts
    Terrible things are happening faster than we can keep up with them. Monsanto, widely regarded as a criminal enterprise, is expanding its monopoly over seeds and food production into Chile and Latin America. http://rt.com/news/chile-protest-monsanto-law-634/ Monsanto has given up for now on monopolizing Europe’s agriculture, but has brought the EU around to allowing it to market GMO food products. Money speaks, which perhaps is the reason that Chile’s former president, Michelle Bachelet, introduced the pro-Monsanto legislation that one of the legislative chambers has passed. There are mass demonstrations in Chile against the legislation that destroys Chile’s sovereignty over its food production, but just as Monsanto can purchase the US government it also can purchase the Chilean government. In our day and time, governments are just another commodity to be bought and sold by powerful corporations.
    And then there is Fukushima. Media have led us to think that this nuclear crisis is over,
    but it appears that it is only beginning. The risk of apocalypse is high. You can read here http://rt.com/news/fukushima-apocalypse-fuel-removal-598/ one assessment of the risks to all of us. Here another http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/13/the-fukushima-nightmare-gets-worse/print And here another http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/08/russia-today/chain-reaction-at-fukushima/ And another http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/08/10-0
    As soon as Egypt gets a democracy with an elected president, Washington has the military, which is dependent on Washington for money and equipment, to overthrow the democracy, just as Washington does in Honduras and elsewhere. The Egyptian government that democracy produced was Islamist. The Muslim Brotherhood is moderate, not radical, but the moderate Islamists showed lack of enthusiasm for supporting the Washington-Israeli policy of genocide for Palestine. Washington finds “freedom and democracy” unacceptable when it does not support Washington’s foreign policy.
    This fall Congress will again be confronted with the debt ceiling limit. To keep this specter at bay, the US Treasury has been employing questionable means. The crisis that has been kicked down the road is likely to worsen, because the economy is likely to renew its decline in ways that cannot be disguised by manipulated statistics. Sooner or later the world will realize that the US cannot pay its bills and that the world’s reserve currency is being ruthlessly printed in order to prop up busted banks and the US Treasury. The house of cards that US economic policy has constructed in the 21st century can collapse at any time.
    Since so much that is distressing awaits us, I propose a bit of respite and in this column
    take us back to happier times.
    Growing Up In America
    cars make a difference
    Paul Craig Roberts
    It was 1955 when I came of driving age. What a glorious year on the automotive scene. The first V-8 engined Chevrolet appeared in the striking art work of the 1955 Bel Air hard top coupe. Often two-toned, usually pastels, this car, stock from the dealer, had the acceleration to match the souped up flathead V-8 Ford engines that were ensconced in the hot rods of the day.
    The small block V-8 found its way into the Corvette, saving the Corvette from extinction.
    Ford came out with its new overhead valve V-8, installed in the 1955 Thunderbird, still a show-stopper today. The Thunderbird existed as a two-seater for 3 years. The 1955 and 1956 Ford Fairlane hard top coup looked like it was doing sixty sitting still.
    The dramatic styling and energetic engines appeared everywhere in Detroit’s lineup, in the Mercury, the Pontiac, Oldsmobile, the Buick Century. So many two-tones, acceleration times cut in half. Life was good.
    Not to be outdone, Chrysler produced the 1955 Chrysler 300 with a 300 horsepower Hemi engine. This car was the high speed king, reaching 130 mph. In 1956 the 300 Hemi delivered 355 horsepower capable of 140 mph. By 1957 the 300 Hemi produced 390 horsepower, outrunning the Ferraris of the day.
    Every style of every marque was distinctive. There was no mistaking one model for another. Driving on city streets and country highways was a feast for the eyes. Style and color were everywhere.
    Even in those days driving occupied much of a person’s time. To be among striking designs and color combinations that excited the imagination was good for the psyche. We were a different people.
    Decades ago a rare piece of fiction in Road & Track resulted in a premonition of the brutal and indistinguishable appearance of today’s SUVs and oversized pickup trucks.
    It was the only piece of fiction, aside from a cartoon strip feature, that I recall ever appearing in R&T. The magazine is about road tests, car reports, and race results.
    Perhaps the explanation for the fictional story is that a prescient car guy realized the brutal design implications of the looming car safety standards and wrote a story set in the future.
    In the story, a man has a lovely sports car from the past that, unlike the mandated safety vehicles, is fun to drive, but he can no longer take it out during normal hours. Under federal safety mandates, vehicles had become massive hulks, brutal in appearance, and capable of smashing the cars of the past without injury to themselves or their drivers. Drivers of the safe machines patrol on the lookout for cars from an earlier, more elegant time. It was a sport to corner them and to crash into them, thus terminating their existence and removing the offense to the ugliness of the safe cars mandated by the government.
    To avoid the demise of his car, he only took it out at 3:00 AM in order to avoid encounters with safe cars. But one early morning two of the hulks were waiting for him. The safe cars approached from both ends of the road, leaving him no way out. But the agility of his car and his skills as a driver permit his escape. Henceforth his enjoyment of his car is confined to visits in the garage and memories of past drives.
    I don’t remember if the story was illustrated or whether the image of the SUV was created by the writer’s words, but years later when I saw the first SUV, now with names, such as Titan, to go with their brutal appearance, I instantly recalled the R&T story.
    The young have no memory of the past. They cannot know how exciting automobiles once were. The excitement created by the explosion of styles, colors, and performance in 1955 is gone from the world. It was a 15-year experience, with the muscle cars of the 1960s keeping the thrill alive.
    When the Jaguar E-Type appeared in 1961, no one could believe that such an extraordinarily beautiful and fast car could be had for $5,000. Enzo Ferrari, the master car-maker of all time, declared the E-Type to be the most beautiful car in the world. One sits in permanent exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Who could imagine a SUV being there, or an over-sized pick-up truck? If we had called for our Saturday night dates in such vehicles, our dates would have been mortified and would have refused to come out of the house.
    Anyone who has sat in the driver’s seat of an E-Type, the first modern car with all independent suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes, looking over the long and louvered bonnet (hood), and starting the powerful engine with its Jaguar growl finds today’s vehicles utterly depressing.
    Another extraordinary design of the era was the Lamborghini Miura. It came 5 years after the E-Type and was an equal show-stopper.
    Today if you have a quarter of a million dollars to spend on a car, you can purchase cars that can outperform these icons of the 1960s. But if you drive up in your Audi A-8, your AMG Mercedes, your Porsche turbo, your Ferrari Italia, the audience will flock to the E-Type and to the Miura. Style, when it was not dictated by Washington, was brilliant. There will never again be anything like it.
    Today cars from the fifties and sixties, including the 1954 Oldsmobile Super 88 coupe, if in reasonable condition, are more valuable than most new cars. A good Miura goes for $1 million. A Series 1 E-Type, produced in much larger numbers than the Miura, goes for $125,000 if in good condition. I have a friend who in the mid-1960s bought and sold for $9,000 a Ferrari 250 GTO. This Ferrari, an aggressive and beautiful take-off on the elegant E-Type, won the world championship for three years in the early 1960s. There were only about 36 of them produced. One sold recently for $35 million. Try to imagine, short of dollar hyperinflation, any vehicle of our time ever fetching $35 million as a used car.

    Seeing a car, rather than a SUV or monster pick-up truck, is becoming a rare event. Recently, I made a count on a stretch of Interstate highway, and 75% of the traffic consisted of SUVs and over-sized pick-up trucks. Americans want to appear brutal like their vehicles, and their police, and their governments.
    SUVs were an unintended consequence of federally mandated fleet gas milage standards. Auto makers complied with the mandate by eliminating station wagons. People looking for station wagon replacement settled on delivery vans and panel trucks. These vehicles, classified as light trucks, were exempt from the gas milage standards, and the SUV was born.
    The unintended consequence of safety standards is to take beauty out of almost all vehicles. How many attractive vehicles do you see today? I recently made a 370 mile trip and saw one car worthy of notice. It was a $300,000 600HP Bentley coupe, a rare and unusual car. When I came of driving age, beautiful and colorful cars emitting wonderful sounds were everywhere. We were surrounded by them. They were Chevrolets and Fords. They weren’t for the mega-rich. The working class could afford them.
    Think about this for a minute. People spend much of their lives in passenger vehicles. They commute to work and back to home. They travel to shop. They travel to vacation destinations. They take children to school and back to home. All of this time that they spend in vehicles they never see anything beautiful or artistic unless some unusual remnant from the past or a rare modern day supercar, whose cost exceeds their lifetime earnings, happens by.
    This was not true in my day. We were surrounded by color, style, and attractive designs. Literally everyone could afford it. The epitome of style was the two-door hard top coupe. Such a vehicle would cost, perhaps, $400 more than the base model that lacked the elegant touches.
    Today, in our brutalized transportation existence, in which no make or model can be identified from any other and in which a two-tone paint job doesn’t exist, anyone with a collection of 1950s and 1960s two-door hard top coupes is a wealthy person not merely in money but also in spirit.
    Today a person with a beautiful car from the past does not yet have to worry about being chased down and destroyed by a modern safe-car hulk, but he has to worry about where he parks it. Beauty and style elevate. Ugliness uglifies. People who drive barbarian cars can themselves become barbarians.
    Terrible things happened in the 1950s and 1960s. McCarthyism got loose for a short period. President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby were murdered, as was Martin Luther King, perhaps by their own government. The reliance on fear to keep the profitable cold war going and the elimination of those who would change course are antecedents of the present. We still suffer from them.
    The difference is that then enough Americans had a frame of mind that had space for the optimism that permitted blacks to be legislated into full citizenship and for the protests that brought to an end the military/security complex’s profitable aggression in Vietnam.
    Perhaps elegant cars had a civilizing influence and contributed to that frame of mind. Get Washington out of car design. It might help to restore our humanity from the brutality that surrounds us.


















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